FACE
Face is a term that refers to the division of the zodiac into 72 equal arcs of 5° each.
Some astrologers have used the appellation interchangeably with decan, which
divides the zodiac into 36 equal arcs of 10° each. Contemporary astrologers rarely
employ the term.
FAGAN, CYRIL
Cyril Fagan, an eminent astrologer, was born on May 22, 1896, in Dublin, Ireland, and
died on January 5, 1970, in Tucson, Arizona. Deafness kept him from following the
family profession—medicine—and eventually he took up astrology.
In the 1930s, Fagan founded the Irish Astrological Society, serving as president
for some years. He took up the cause of the fixed or sidereal zodiac and became the
leader of sidereal astrologers in America. Zodiacs Old and New(1950) articulates most of
his ideas on siderealism. Fagan had a dogmatic style that convinced some and repelled
others. Ernest Grant was the initial publisher of his Fixed Zodiac Ephemeris for 1948.
Despite the support of Fagan’s views on siderealism, however, most astrologers
continued to use the moving or tropical zodiac, and some who converted to sidereal-
ism later returned to the tropical fold. Fagan began a long-running feature, “Solunars,”
in American Astrology Magazine(1954–1970) in which he put forward his theories and
also discussed horoscopes of many historical personages based on careful research into
correct birth dates and birth times. Beyond siderealism, Fagan denounced the use of
house rulers in natal astrology, tried to revive the ancient use of simultaneous rising
stars, and advocated the Campanus house system (although he later advocated an
eightfold division of the chart).
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